Sethusamudram
Centre files fresh affidavit in SC
New Delhi, February 29
The Centre today filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on the controversial Sethusamudram project seeking the vacation of its interim orders putting on hold any damage to “Rama Setu.”

Ghising resigns
Kolkata, February 29
Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subhas Ghising resigned today from the Gorkha Hill Council which he had been heading as a caretaker chairman for the past over two years.

Left, BJP term Budget as populist
New Delhi, February 29
The Left joined the BJP in picking holes in the General Budget, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed it for an “unorthodox response” to deal with depression in the agriculture sector.

Eco-friendly tech
Pachauri hails institutional mechanism
New Delhi, February 29
Turning the issue of climate change into a part of mainstream policymaking, finance minister P. Chidambaram today said the government proposed setting up a permanent institutional mechanism that would play development and coordination role to explore and implement ideas in the areas related to clean and green technology.

Finance minister P. Chidambaram with minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal come out of North Block to present the Budget (2008-09) in Parliament
on Friday. — Tribune photo by Manas Ranjan Bhui

Is debt waiver just book adjustment exercise?
New Delhi, February 29
Debt waiver of Rs 50,000 crore for farmers proposed in the Budget today, appears to be a “book adjustment” exercise with the government shying away from specifics on how it would compensate the PSU banks.

Experts: Just a populist step
Chandigarh, February 29
Farmers, farm economists and leaders from the farming community say the relief package is just a populist measure and will serve no real purpose in eradicating rural indebtedness as 45 to 50 per cent of farmers have availed loans from the non-institutional sector like commission agents and private moneylenders.

Euphoria in Cong over budget
New Delhi, February 29
Finance minister P. Chidambaram’s fifth and final predictable “people-friendly and pro-farmer” budget has signaled that the next Lok Sabha polls due only next year could well overlap with the year-end five assembly elections.

15 pc more for healthNew Delhi, February 29The Budget allocation for health for 2008-09 has been increased by 15 per cent over that for the current fiscal to Rs 16,968
crore.

Rs 50 cr to save tigersNew Delhi, February 29In a way, the Budget speech of the Union Finance Minister for 2008-2009 was unique. India’s national animal tiger managed to find way in Chidambaram’s speech when he recognised that the figure of 1411, the official number of tigers in the country, was alarming.

Soldiers from the paramilitary forces patrol the streets of Kohima on Friday ahead
of Nagaland Assembly elections. Elections are scheduled to take place on
March 5 with some 1.3 million voters set to determine the future of 218
candidates contesting 60 seats. — AFP

Mid-day Meal Scheme
2.5 cr more children to be covered
New Delhi, February 29
Finance minister P. Chidambaram today gave a brief account of the progress made under the flagship programmes such as Bharat Nirman, which were aimed at boosting development in the rural areas.

Hyundai, Maruti cut prices
New Delhi, February 29
There was immediate reaction from the auto industry over Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today giving handsome excise concessions to the Indian automotive industry.

Defence budget up 10 pc
New Delhi, February 29
As the allocation for the defence in the Budget crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark for the first time in the history of India, it was apparent that for the fourth year in running the focus of the Congress-led UPA coalition government would be to modernise the armed forces.

Rs 800 cr set aside for power reforms
New Delhi, February 29
For accelerating power development and project reforms, the government has proposed to provide Rs 800 crore in 2008-09 and said it would set up a national fund for transmission and distribution reforms.

Excise cut to boost manufacturing
New Delhi, February 29
To boost industrial production, the government today proposed two per cent cut in excise duty from 16 per cent on all goods, besides giving duty concessions to specific sectors like auto and pharma. “The manufacturing sector is the backbone of any economy. It is consumption that drives production and it is production that drives investment...I believe there is a need to give a stimulus to the manufacturing sector,” finance minister P. Chidambaram said while presenting the General Budget.

Mobile handsets costlier
New Delhi, February 29
Mobile phone users would now have to shell out more money for buying new handsets, with the government proposing to levy 1 per cent excise duty on them.

Bank cash transaction tax goes
New Delhi, February 29
In the Central Budget 2008-09, banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) has been withdrawn. The step is in view of the fact that the information gathered by means of BCTT is also available to the Income Tax Department through other instruments introduced in the last few years.

SC stays trial of 3 accused in Malegaon blasts
New Delhi, February 29
The Supreme Court today stayed the trial of three accused being tried under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon bomb explosions.

‘Judiciary can’t take role of selection panel’
New Delhi, February 29
The judiciary cannot arrogate itself to the role of a fact-finding committee or substitute a selection committee for appointment of candidates to a government post, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Gafoor new Mumbai police chief
Roy takes over as DGP
Mumbai, February 29
Hasan Gafoor is the new police commissioner of Mumbai. Previously Gafoor was the additional director general of police (anti-corruption bureau). Former Mumbai police commissioner
A.N. Roy will take over as the state’s director general of police.

1-year RI for Shahabuddin
Siwan, February 29
Special magistrate V.V. Gupta today handed down one year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to controversial RJD MP Md Shahabuddin in connection with a case relating to threatening the then officer in charge of Jiradei police station of Siwan.

Liberhan Commission gets 44th extension
New Delhi, February 29
The Liberhan Commission probing the circumstances leading to demolition of Babri Masjid in
Ayodhya, today got its 44th extension for another two months.

New Delhi, February 29
The Centre today filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on the controversial Sethusamudram project seeking the vacation of its interim orders putting on hold any damage to “Rama Setu.”

The 60-page affidavit, cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the government respected all religions but was of view that it should not be called upon to respond to issues of faith, except in recognising their existence.

The amended affidavit assumes significance as it has been filed after the Centre in September last withdrew its two affidavits in which it had questioned the existence of Lord Ram and “Ram Setu”.

Following an outcry led by the Sangh Parivar over the controversial affidavit, the apex court on September 14, 2007 had allowed the Centre to re-examine entire material afresh to review the Rs 2,087 crore project.

However, it had continued the operation of its August 31 interim order restraining any damage to “Rama Setu” or Adams Bridge, a mythical bridge situated south-east off Rameshwaram, connecting the Talaimanar coast of Sri Lanka.

The court in its interim order had allowed the dredging activity for the project to the extent that it did not in anyway damage the “Rama Setu” or Adams Bridge.

While withdrawing the affidavits, the Centre had said “it has total respect for all religions, and Hinduism in particular, in the context of the present case. The Central Government is alive and conscious of the religious sensibilities.”
— PTI

Kolkata, February 29
Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subhas Ghising resigned today from the Gorkha Hill Council which he had been heading as a caretaker chairman for the past over two years.

Consequently, the anti-Ghising Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) withdrew its indefinite strike and fasting which had entered its 18th day today.

GJM chairman Bimal Gurung directed the workers and their supporters to call off the strike and help the district administration in the restoration of normalcy in the hills. Over 5,000 employees who also joined the stir have been asked to report to their offices tomorrow.

Subhas Ghising today met Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at Writers Buildings for the second successive day after Bhattacharjee's meeting with the GJM delegation led by Gurung on Wednesday.

During his meeting with Ghising, Bhattacharjee made it clear to him that he would have to resign forthwith to bring peace to the hills as the majority of the hill population was against him.

Bhattacharjee told Ghising that the government would hold the elections to the hill council at an early date. He could again become chairman, if the hill people so wanted.

But Ghising was unwilling to resign and hand over the charge to any government official.

However, after the decision to withhold the Sixth Schedule Bill by the Lok Sabha's select committee headed by Sushma Swaraj to reconsider the proposal, Ghising decided to step down.

Gurung and other GJM leaders, who were in the city for holding talks with the state government for the past two days, left for Darjeeling in the evening today.

Ghising alleged that he had been politically victimised by vested interests. But he was confident that the GNLF, being the main political force in the hills, would once again get elected in the hill council and the party would re-launch their movement in the hills in support of a separate Gorkhaland and the Sixth Schedule for the hill people.

New Delhi, February 29
The Left joined the BJP in picking holes in the General Budget, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed it for an “unorthodox response” to deal with depression in the agriculture sector.

Political circles were agog with an imminent show down between the UPA government and its Left allies. There already are indications that the government will go full steam ahead in operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal after crossing the IAEA and NSG hurdles - a red rag for the Left parties. The nuclear deal is the prized jewel in the UPA government’s crown, while the Left parties are committed to keep their electoral base intact on the anti-US plank.

The Left parties criticised the Budget on several counts, though they gingerly conceded that some of their concerns had been addressed.

The CPM blamed the government for not announcing any measures to check price rise or strengthen food security.

“The Budget contains nothing at all to contain inflation....This is the most burning issue today which has been completely neglected. Neither has anything been done to strengthen the public distribution system,” CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said.

Moreover, he said no budgetary provision had been announced on the debt relief measures.

“Probably, the government will issue bonds to the banks which waive the loans, but their health will also have to be taken care of. Though loan waivers was a welcome measure, this would affect only one-third of farmers who have taken loans from national banks, cooperatives or other government institutions,” he said.

Yechury pointed out that a vast majority of the peasantry was dependent on private moneylenders and these moneylenders were kept out of the purview of this measure. He informed that most of the farmers’ suicides were being reported from this section only.

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the Budget was an “election stunt” and quipped, “the only thing the finance minister did not announce was the election date.”

CPI’s D. Raja said the Budget was silent on the four per cent interest rate on loans to farmers and demand for setting up of the national debt relief commission.

“The Budget lacks long-term perspective. It is more of short-term relief,” he added. The BJP described the Budget as the UPA’s election manifesto. The party said the Budget was not people-friendly but “poll-friendly” and sought to caution the public that the Congress-led government will not implement the proposals. It said by presenting such a document, the government had virtually declared early polls.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government had been generous in its response to deal with the depression in the agriculture sector.

“It is an unorthodox response. But considering the amount of depression that prevails in the agriculture sector, this is a response mechanism that is justified,” he said. He described the farmers as the “most important businessmen”.

The Prime Minister patted the finance minister for having done a good job.

New Delhi, February 29
Turning the issue of climate change into a part of mainstream policymaking, finance minister P. Chidambaram today said the government proposed setting up a permanent institutional mechanism that would play development and coordination role to explore and implement ideas in the areas related to clean and green technology.

Chidambaram said even while pursuing “common but differentiated responsibility, we must do a number of things in our self-interest".

"We can promote clean technology products; review fuel emission and efficiency regulations; replace wood by solar as fuel of common use; encourage use of gas, which is most benign hydrocarbon; set up a trading platform for carbon emissions; build sustainable Greenfield cities; we can do more," he said.

In order to explore and implement these and other ideas, the government will establish a permanent mechanism, details of which will soon be announced. In the last Budget, Chidambaram had announced setting up of an expert committee to study the impact of climate change on India and identify measures that need to be taken in the future.

Commenting on the Budget, he said: “It is a matter of great satisfaction that the issue of climate change is now part of mainstream policymaking as clearly indicated by the Budget last year. It had asked for the establishment of an expert committee, which has been implemented on climate change and the finance minister’s statement on a series of initiatives that he has identified in this year’s Budget.

His reference to an institutional mechanism to spearhead new initiatives related to climate change is indeed totally relevant, because what is required today is an institutionalised structure for coordinating the range of developments,” the IPCC chief
added.

New Delhi, February 29
Debt waiver of Rs 50,000 crore for farmers proposed in the Budget today, appears to be a “book adjustment” exercise with the government shying away from specifics on how it would compensate the PSU banks.

Though finance minister P. Chidambaram, at a post-Budget press conference, told newspersons that the government would compensate the banks in three years for the debt waiver scheme, top officials in the PSU banks felt that it could well turn out to be a mere book adjustment exercise. For obvious reason, they refused to come on record.

If the government does not compensate for the waiver, then the PSU banks would have to remain contented with the fact that it would help improve the balance sheet by way of reduction in NPA.

“Loans extended to many marginal and small farmers have anyway become an NPA, with no hope or very little chance of recovery. So, the loan waiver would in fact help PSU banks to improve its balance sheet by shedding some portion of its NPA,” a top official of a PSU bank told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The NPA of various PSU banks are in the range of 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent and each bank has been trying to keep the NPA under check by adopting twin methods of cash recoveries and write-off.

When contacted, K. Raghuraman, executive director of Punjab National Bank, said the debt waiver from the bank was likely to be about Rs 650 crore.

“Naturally the waiver of debt will get reflected by way of reduction in the bank’s NPA to the extent of the waiver,” he said, hoping that the government would soon announce the manner in which the banks would be compensated for the waivers.

Chandigarh, February 29
The Union Finance Minister’s loan waiver has brought cheers to the farming community in Punjab.

Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh said Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had written a letter to the Prime Minister a few days ago, asking him to waive the institutional loans worth Rs 14,000 crore availed by farmers on a short and long-term basis from various credit agencies, including banks. About Rs 12,000 crore of this amount is with small and marginal farmers.

“We are not sure whether the Union Government will waive the entire amount of Rs 12,000 crore due from small and marginal farmers or only bad debt due to be paid for the past more than one year”, said a senior government officer.

Sources said that cooperative banks in Punjab had advanced about Rs 4,700 crore to farmers till December 31,2007. As much as Rs 586 crore of this money has not been returned. As much as Rs 104 crore out of Rs 586 crore was advanced on a short-term basis and the rest on a long-term basis. “ Whether the Centre waives only Rs 586 crore or the entire amount of Rs 4,700 crore remains to be seen”, said a senior officer of the Cooperative Department.

Farm sector expert Ranjit Singh Ghuman said Punjab farmers would gain in the range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore. However, most of the farmers in Punjab have a joint account of land in revenue records. Though most of them own less than 5 acres they have not divided the land in revenue records. For the past several generations, they have been cultivating the land on the basis of mutual understanding without making entries in the revenue record. This can create problems at the time of implementing the loan waiver scheme.

Akali minister Kanwaljit Singh said the waiver was a welcome step but the UPA government had created a wedge by discriminating farmers on the basis of land holdings. The waiver should have been for all farmers.

Chandigarh, February 29
Farmers, farm economists and leaders from the farming community say the relief package is just a populist measure and will serve no real purpose in eradicating rural indebtedness as 45 to 50 per cent of farmers have availed loans from the non-institutional sector like commission agents and private moneylenders.

The Rs 50,000-crore waiver of agriculture loans and Rs 10,000 crore loans to be settled through the one-time settlement scheme, will cover only loans availed from banks.

The country has three crore small and marginal farmers and one crore big farmers. It is estimated that 81 per cent of farmers under debt in Punjab have small landholdings, while 79 per cent of small farmers in Haryana have landholdings below 2 hectares.

While Punjab has the highest magnitude of indebtedness in rural households (per capita debt of Rs 41,576), over 53 per cent farmers in rural Haryana are under debt, having an average outstanding loan of Rs 26,007. Though only a small percentage of farmers in the region have availed institutional loans and stand to gain, policy makers are worried about the future implications of such a waiver.

Says S.S. Johl, a farm economist: “None of the committees set up by the government on agriculture reforms and farmers welfare has ever recommended a complete waiver of loans. Rather they have always recommended relief on interest rates. Such a scheme will spoil the credit culture, as those who have already paid their loans will take more loans and not repay them. This in turn will lead to high NPAs (non-performing assets) of lending institutions. Moreover, rather than taking the geographical area as a basis for the relief package, the amount of loan should have formed the basis.”

Supporting his views, R.S. Ghumman, professor of economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, says though the scheme is meant to benefit the marginalised farmers, it could have a negative impact.

“It will not solve the problems of farmer rather could encourage them to take loans thinking that these will be waived off later.,” he adds.

Avtar Singh Dhindsa, a farmer from Langrian village in Sangrur district, says farmers will not really benefit as most of them have availed loans from the unregulated sector.

“Though on one hand, the policy makers talk about the financial inclusion of farmers, on the other this step will lead to the funding agencies desisting from disbursing loans among the farmers,” he says.

Hardev Singh Sandhu, president, Hind Kisan Mazdoor Sabha, says: “The farmers would have benefited if the non-institutional loans, too, would have been included in this package.”

However, Ranjit Singh, deputy chairman, Haryana Planning Board, feels the scheme would benefit a large section of farmers in Haryana as a sizeable number of farmers have availed institutional loans.

“We hope that at least 70 per cent of small and marginal farmers would benefit from the scheme as they have taken loans ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000,” he says.

New Delhi, February 29
Finance minister P. Chidambaram’s fifth and final predictable “people-friendly and pro-farmer” budget has signaled that the next Lok Sabha polls due only next year could well overlap with the year-end five assembly elections.

More importantly, the special package for farmers and the focus on social sectors in the budget has galvanised the otherwise depressed Congress workers, who were quick to shed their despondency and launch euphoric celebrations to thank party president Sonia Gandhi for ensuring that the government fulfilled its electoral promise to the aam admi.

Busloads of party workers and farmers from Haryana, led by Rohtak MP Deependra Hooda, descended at Sonia Gandhi’s residence minutes after the budget was presented. As drums rolled and ecstatic workers danced and distributed sweets, both Congress president and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who rushed to 10 Janpath after the presentation of the budget, were at hand to accept their congratulations.

Similar celebrations were organised in the state capitals where euphoric slogan-shouting workers thronged Congress offices.

While ecstatic party functionaries went overboard, describing the budget as “historic and path-breaking”, Sonia Gandhi declared the farm loan waiver as a revolutionary step.” It is a very happy occasion for us,” she told the large gathering of farmers at her residence.

A beaming Prime Minister said the budget was “excellent and outstanding” as the finance minister has addressed the distress of the debt-ridden farmers and taken measures to check inflation, create employment and insulate the GDP growth rate from a possible recession.

“It is the budget of the “aam admi, middle class and farmers,” Singh told reporters at Parliament House, shortly after the presentation of the budget.

Economic experts may pick holes with Chidambaram’s “populist budget” but it has definitely helped send out a positive political signal to the Congress workers who were worried till a few days ago that they would have to pay a heavy electoral price for the continuing agrarian crisis and soaring prices of essential commodities.

“This budget will silence those who had criticised the government for its undue focus on economic growth rates. We were being told that the growth was not inclusive enough as the fruits of a booming economy were not percolating down to the rural poor,” remarked a senior UPA minister although the government has launched a series of programmes like Bharat Nirman and NREGA, which are focused on the rural sector.

AICC general secretary B.K. Hariprasad said previous governments have talked of debt relief but few actually acted on the promise. “This budget shows that while the NDA spoke of India Shining, the UPA is concentrating on India Suffering,” remarked Lok Sabha MP Deependra Hooda.

Confident Congress functionaries were even predicting a second term for the UPA on the basis of today’s popular budget. “This government has no anti-incumbency, no scam or scandal. Besides, Manmohan Singh has a squeaky clean image. The BJP, on the other hand, has no concrete programme,” remarked a senior Congress leader.

New Delhi, February 29
The Budget allocation for health for 2008-09 has been increased by 15 per cent over that for the current fiscal to Rs 16,968 crore.

Finance minister P. Chidambaram said the allocation for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) had been increased, laying particular stress on HIV/AIDS, polio and health care for the rural and urban poor as also medical research in the country.

In all, the total allocation for the health sector had been increased from Rs 14,500 crore last year to Rs 16,968 crore this year. The allocation for the NRHM had been increased to Rs 12,050 crore, Chidambaram said, adding that the NRHM was the key instrument of intervention by the Central government.

The finance minister further stated that the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) would be provided Rs 993 crore. An amount of Rs 1,042 crore would be provided for polio eradication programme in 2008-09 while Rs 51.75 crore had been allocated for medical research.

New Delhi, February 29
In a way, the Budget speech of the Union Finance Minister for 2008-2009 was unique. India’s national animal tiger managed to find way in Chidambaram’s speech when he recognised that the figure of 1411, the official number of tigers in the country, was alarming.

“The number 1,411 should ring the alarm bells,” is how Chidambaram voiced his concern over the depleting number of tigers in the country as he announced a special grant to save the animal in the Budget 2008-09. Presenting a new ray of hope for the endangered specie, the finance minister proposed an allocation of Rs 50 crore to save the big cat by raising a tiger protection force.

“1,411 is the number of tigers in India. The tiger is under grave threat,” the finance minister said, adding that the grant to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) would redouble efforts to protect the big cat.

Bulk of the grant will be used to raise, arm and deploy a special tiger protection force and this is one effort that the majority of tiger conservationists in the country have welcomed.

Mid-day Meal Scheme
2.5 cr more children to be covered
Prashant Sood
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 29
Finance minister P. Chidambaram today gave a brief account of the progress made under the flagship programmes such as Bharat Nirman, which were aimed at boosting development in the rural areas.

In his Budget speech, Chidambaram proposed to provide Rs 31,280 crore for Bharat Nirman as against Rs 24,603 crore in 2007-08.

The minister said Bharat Nirman had made impressive progress in 2007-08. “At the current pace, on each day of the year, 290 habitations are provided with drinking water and 17 habitations are connected through an all weather road. On each day of the year 52 villages are provided with telephones and 42 villages are electrified. On each day of the year 4,113 rural houses are completed,” he said.

The Budget proposed Rs 8,000 crore for the Mid-day Meal Scheme. The Mid-day Meal Scheme would now be extended to upper primary classes in government and government-aided schools in all blocks of the country. This would benefit an additional 2.5 crore children, taking the total number of children covered under the scheme to 13.9 crore.

The focus of the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan would shift from access and infrastructure at the primary level to enhancing retention, improving quality of learning and ensuring access to upper primary classes.

He said the model school programme, which aims at establishing 6,000 high quality model schools, would start this year and Rs 650 crore had been proposed for the scheme.

Navodaya vidyalayas would be established in 20 districts that had a large concentration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

On the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, which was announced last year to enable students to continue their education beyond Class VIII and up to Class XII, he said 1,00,000 scholarships would be awarded and a corpus of Rs 3,000 crore built up in four years.

The finance minister said pointing out that India has the opportunity become a knowledge society, he said following the Prime Minister’s announcement an IIM had started functioning at Shillong, IISERs had started at Mohali, Pune and Kolkata and an IIIT at Kanchipuram.

Referring to the government’s promise to establish a central university in the uncovered states, he said 16 central universities would be established in 2008-09.

New Delhi, February 29
There was immediate reaction from the auto industry over Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today giving handsome excise concessions to the Indian automotive industry.

All leading manufacturers, including Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), Tata Motors and others, said that benefits accruing from the excise concessions would be passed on to the consumers. The others to benefit would be General Motors and Ford.

Hyundai Motor India went ahead by announcing a price cut in all its small car models immediately after the Finance Minister announced the excise cut. A company statement said the price cut was going to be as high as Rs 19,419 for its Getz Prime CRDi model. There would be a price cut of between Rs 8,000 and Rs 13,000 on Santro and between Rs 11,000 and Rs 16,000 on the i-10 model.

Chidambaram has cut the excise duty on bus chassis, small cars, two and three-wheelers from 16 per cent to 12 per cent. In the case of hybrid cars, excise duty has been brought down to 14 per cent from the current 24 per cent, a drastic cut of 10 per cent.

With Tata Motors launching its small wonder, Nano, and planning huge volumes, the cut in excise duty is expected to benefit the company in a large way. Tata Motors would also benefit from the reduction in excise duty on bus chassis as would Ashok Leyland and Eicher. Tata Motors said that it would reduce the prices of its small cars and commercial vehicles.

The government move will also bring great relief to two-wheeler manufacturers suffering from slow growth. Companies like TVS Motor, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda etc.

Maruti-800 cheaper by Rs 6,500

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said today that it had reduced prices of its small car from Rs 6,500
for Maruti 800 to Rs 18,030 for Swift Diesel (ex-showroom Delhi).

The company announced price reduction in all the six models that qualify for the lower excise benefit: Maruti 800, Omni, Zen, Wagon R, Swift Diesel and Alto.
— UNI

New Delhi, February 29
Seeking to firm up the health sector in the country, the finance minister today announced a five-year tax holiday for setting up hospitals anywhere in India.

Presenting the Budget, he said the hospitals would be set up specially in tier-2 and tier-3 (smaller) towns with an aim to serve the rural hinterland.

“Certain specified urban agglomerations will not be covered,” he said. This scheme will be opened for the period from April 1 to March 31, 2013, during which the hospital must commence operations.

Similarly, a five-year holiday from income tax has been announced for two, three and four-star hotels established in specific districts which have UNESCO-declared World Heritage Sites. The hotel should be constructed and start functioning from April 1 to March 31, 2013.

“The measure has been taken in view of significant rise in tourist arrivals, specially for cultural tourism,” the finance minister said.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 29
As the allocation for the defence in the Budget crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark for the first time in the history of India, it was apparent that for the fourth year in running the focus of the Congress-led UPA coalition government would be to modernise the armed forces.

The defence Budget this year has been hiked by Rs 9,600 crore over the last year’s allocation of Rs 96,000 crore.

The Budget for defence had been hiked to Rs 1,05,600 crore. This, he said, was almost a 10 per cent hike over the last year’s allocation. He also assured defence minister A.K. Antony that the estimates could be revised as per the demand of the defence ministry and further amount, if needed, would be provided for the capital expenditure.

While allocating Rs 1,05,600 crore for 2008-09, the government has justified the higher allocation keeping in view the enhanced expenditure on modernisation of defence forces.

The Army as usual get the bulk of share in the new Budget with an almost six per cent jump in allocation to Rs 36,270 crore from last year’s revised estimates of Rs 34,218 crore, an increase of Rs 2,051 crore.

The share of the IAF has been hiked by 4.8 per cent from revised estimates of Rs 10,354 crore to Rs 10,855 crore, an increase of Rs 501 crore.

The Navy has got a hike of 4.6 per cent, with allocation increase to Rs 7421 crore from last year’s revised estimates of Rs 7092 crore.

New Delhi, February 29
For accelerating power development and project reforms, the government has proposed to provide Rs 800 crore in 2008-09 and said it would set up a national fund for transmission and distribution reforms.

“Huge investments are still required in transmission and distribution that is a drag on the sector,” finance minister P. Chidambaram said in his Budget speech.

On the ultra mega power project, he said the fourth project at Tilaiya would be awarded shortly. It is proposed to bring five more ultra mega power projects in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu to the bidding stage provided the states extend the required support.

The finance minister said Rs 5,500 crore would be allocated in 2008-09 for the ongoing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana.

New Delhi, February 29
To boost industrial production, the government today proposed two per cent cut in excise duty from 16 per cent on all goods, besides giving duty concessions to specific sectors like auto and pharma. “The manufacturing sector is the backbone of any economy. It is consumption that drives production and it is production that drives investment...I believe there is a need to give a stimulus to the manufacturing sector,” finance minister P. Chidambaram said while presenting the General Budget.

In addition to excise duty, the finance minister proposed to halve the duty on all goods produced in the pharmaceutical sector to eight per cent from the existing 16 per cent.

Excise duty on small cars, two, three-wheelers, buses and their chassis will come down to 12 per cent from the current level of 16 per cent.

However, in the software segment excise duty on packaged software would be raised to 12 per cent from 8 per cent to bring it on par with customised software, which will attract service tax of 12 per cent.

New Delhi, February 29
Mobile phone users would now have to shell out more money for buying new handsets, with the government proposing to levy 1 per cent excise duty on them.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said: "Excise duty of 1 per cent, called National Calamity Contingent Duty, is now imposed on polyester filament yarn, which is the only yarn suffering this excise duty. I propose to remove that duty and shift the levy to cellular mobile phones."

"It will definitely increase the prices of mobile phones," LG Business Group Head (GSM) Anil Arora told PTI when asked about the impact of the proposed move.

The proposal may translate into a corresponding 1 per cent hike in price of mobile handsets.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 29
In the Central Budget 2008-09, banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) has been withdrawn. The step is in view of the fact that the information gathered by means of BCTT is also available to the Income Tax Department through other instruments introduced in the last few years.

Relief has been provided in the fringe benefit tax (FBT) for certain class of tax payers. Creche facilities, sponsorship of an employee-sportsperson, organising sports events for employees and guests will be excluded from the purview of the FBT.
— UNI

New Delhi, February 29
The Supreme Court today stayed the trial of three accused being tried under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon bomb explosions.

A Bench comprising Justices B.N. Aggrawal and G.S. Singhvi stayed the trial of petitioner Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rahman Sheikh, Mohd Muzaffar and Sabeer Ahmed Masiullah, who were charged with offences under Section 2(1)(e) MCOCA which deals with insurgency and terrorism.

Sheikh is an accused in the Mumbai local trains bomb blasts which took place on November 7, 2006, Mohd Muzaffar is accused of illegally possessing a large quantity of arms and ammunition which was allegedly recovered from him in Aurangabad while Masiullah is facing trial in the Malegaon bomb blast case.

The petitioners have challenged the validity of Section 2(1)(e) MCOCA which is a state act.

According to the petitioners, acts of involvement in insurgency and terrorism could be tried only under Central law. A state act could not be applied in such cases. Hence, their trial under MCOCA was illegal and so proceedings against them should be quashed and they should be discharged and released forthwith.

The apex court also issued notices to the Maharashtra Government and the Centre on the petitions.
— UNI

New Delhi, February 29
The judiciary cannot arrogate itself to the role of a fact-finding committee or substitute a selection committee for appointment of candidates to a government post, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Further unsuccessful candidate cannot and assail the selection process after having participated in it, a bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and V.S. Sirpurkar said in a judgment.

The apex court passed the judgment while reversing a HC order and upholding the selection process conducted by the Assam government for recruiting over 5,000 constables.
— PTI

Mumbai, February 29
Hasan Gafoor is the new police commissioner of Mumbai. Previously Gafoor was the additional director general of police (anti-corruption bureau). Former Mumbai police commissioner
A.N. Roy will take over as the state’s director general of police.

Gafoor and Roy replace D.N. Jadhav and P.S. Pasricha who retire from service today. Both officers were given extention in service nearly a month ago by the Maharashtra government only to receive a rap from the Bombay High Court. Senior police officials had also criticised the decision.

While Gafoor’s appointment was a near certainity with both the Congress and the NCP agreeing to his appointment, sources said both parties ruling Maharashtra were undecided on who would be the state’s top cop.

Siwan, February 29
Special magistrate V.V. Gupta today handed down one year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to controversial RJD MP Md Shahabuddin in connection with a case relating to threatening the then officer in charge of Jiradei police station of Siwan.

As per the case lodged at Jiradei police station, Shahabuddin had telephonically threatened the then officer in charge of Jiradei police station Harendra Rai from Beur central jail on February 22, 2005 for arresting Chote Lal Sah, a henchman of the MP.

Later, the MP threatened the police officer with dire consequences in case the latter failed to release the arrested person. The court later granted bail to the MP in the same case after filing an appeal in the higher court.

With today’s judgment, Shahabuddin has been convicted in five criminal cases and awarded imprisonment ranging from one year to life. So far Shahabuddin has been acquitted in three criminal cases. About 27 criminal cases were still pending against the incarcerated MP, who was arrested on November 5, 2005.
— UNI

New Delhi, February 29
The Liberhan Commission probing the circumstances leading to demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, today got its 44th extension for another two months.

The term of the Commission will now end on April 30, an official release said.

The panel headed by Justice M.S. Liberhan was constituted on December 16, 1992, by an order of the home ministry and was expected to submit its report within three months. It has already taken over 15 years and has incurred an expenditure of more than Rs 7 crore so far.